Class, (unscheduled at this time, 11/08)

ìAdventures in Book Conservationî

The physical book has flourished for two millennia. It has prospered across great revolutions and has powered transitions in beliefs and sciences. It prospered with the advent of paper, with the advent of printing and now it appears ready to outsmart the digital era.

This exciting seminar will explore the amazing technology of the book. We will learn of its exotic origins, its relations with strange reading and communication behaviors and the secrets of its ingenious structures and technologies. We will also consider the special skills used to preserve books and keep libraries working.

In addition to primary instruction in book conservation methods, students will also develop career skills. The career agendas include those of library preservation and book conservation, artistic expression in book format and academic interest in book studies.

Spring semester, 16 sessions meeting in the evening (Wednesday) 5:30 ñ 8:30. Class size limit is 15. Instructor, Gary Frost, 319-335-5908,
gary-frost@uiowa.edu

Historical Printing: a seminar on letterpress transmission, Fall 2009

This one hour credit seminar course will introduce environments and experience of historical letterpress production. Sessions will provide practitioner lectures and extensive field experience. This seminar will be of interest to students in communications studies, media and book studies, social history studies and museum interpretation and education.

Field study sites include Iowa City letterpress studios, the Print Shop and Bindery in the Amana Colonies, the Iowa River Landing Print Shop at the Johnson County Historical Society Museum, the Linotype Museum in Denmark Iowa and the historical printing studio of the University of Iowa Center for the Book.

Students will engage in skilled operations, individual research and class demonstrations. Explorative discussion will consider contexts of historical print production as pre-cursive to contemporary communications and digital publication. The class will explore communalities between present and past technologies such as the keyboard automation, image quality and delivery systems and technological transition.

The seminar will be scheduled for six Saturdays across the semester. Fieldwork travel time is required. For registration code contact Gary Frost, <gary-frost@uiowa.edu>

Linotype University, late September, 2009

Workshops at Linotype University, Denmark, Iowa; contact Larry Raid, <larryjraid@lisco.com> or
Linotype University

History, Art and Technology of the Book, April 12-24, Arequipa, Peru

The story of the book is 2000 years old and there is no conclusion. This presentation and workshop will explore the invention, evolution and refinement of the familiar book. We will also consider the prospects for the future of the book including a happy compatibility between the physical book and its other presence on a computer screen.

Paper and Book Intensive, May 17 to 28, 2009

“Structure and Action In Codex Bookbinding”Ox Bow
As books move us, we move books. Book structure and action responds to manipulation providing quick navigation, easy scanning, and a kinetic invitation to content. We will investigate this performance of the codex binding through study of historical prototypes; three bookbinding structures will be made during the class. Participants will resolve design problems for artistic innovation and book conservation practice.

*** July, 2010, OldWays Homestead, Santa Idaho
Timeless Tech

(stay tuned)

Instructor for the Workshops

Gary Frost is an educator in book art and book conservation. He has taught at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Columbia University in New York and the University of Texas at Austin. He is currently the Conservator for the Libraries at the University of Iowa.